Construction of new spinning plant for Planova™ filters

Asahi Kasei Medical will construct a new plant for the spinning of cellulose hollow-fiber membranes for Planova™ virus removal filters in Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Japan, increasing annual production capacity by 40,000 m2/year upon completion in May 2019.

Virus removal filters are used to enhance safety in the production process for biotherapeutic products such as biopharmaceuticals and plasma derivatives. Asahi Kasei Medical has earned wide recognition among customers around the world for the performance and reliability of its virus removal filters—both Planova™ cellulose membrane filters, which were launched in 1989 as the world's first filters developed specifically for removing viruses from biotherapeutic products, and Planova™ BioEX hydrophilic PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) membrane filters, which provide superior viral clearance in high protein concentration solutions.

With heightened standards throughout the world for the viral safety of biotherapeutics and advances in the development of monoclonal antibodies and other biopharmaceuticals, global demand for Planova™ filters is expected to continue on growing. The new spinning plant will enable Asahi Kasei Medical to maintain stable product supply and meet rising demand. Together with a spinning plant for Planova™ BioEX filters completed in Oita, Japan, in 2016, the new spinning plant announced today will increase Asahi Kasei Medical’s total production capacity for hollow-fiber virus removal membranes to 130,000 m2/year.

“This investment to increase production capacity will ensure our sustainable and stable supply to meet all customer’s increasing needs. The mission of Asahi Kasei Medical’s bioprocess business is “Pioneering Biologics Safety and Manufacturing Efficiency", and with that we want to contribute further to the development and evolution of the bioprocessing industry”, Takeshi Himeno, President of Asahi Kasei Medical says.